The 2014 Community Service Fellowship Program Fellows, representing all the GSD programs, will be taking it to the streets this summer to challenge themselves and test their learning on design and planning projects with direct community impact. The 10-week paid summer internships will send them to local community organizations, federal and state agencies and nonprofit institutions with a wide range of needs.
The Loeb Fellowship cast a wide net for next year’s Fellows and once again has selected practitioners logging extraordinary successes to achieve equity and enhance our built and natural environment. Their work encompasses sustainable agriculture and food security, traditional practices for tribal community development, water rights and coastal resiliency. They are leading pop-up neighborhood improvement demonstrations and studying pop-up political resistance. They are saying No to sprawl and Yes to affordable housing and livable streets. And they include the Fellowship’s first television talk show host! Meet the 2014-15 Loeb class
Lynn Richards (LF and Lincoln/Loeb Fellow ’13) has barely had time to share the exciting news of her appointment as President and CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism, yet she hasn’t waited to dig into her new role. She officially starts July 1, but she’s already there part time. “While I was sad to leave EPA and all the good work the Smart Growth Program has done, I am absolutely thrilled to lead an organization known for innovative design and building great places.” Read more on the LOEBlog.
The New York Times featured GSD Design Critic and former director of Spatial Planning and Water Management in the Netherlands Henk Ovink for his post-Hurricane Sandy work.
Leif Estrada (MLA/MDesS in Urbanism, Landscape, Ecology) has received honorable mention in the 2014 National Geographic Award in Mapping for "Morphology: Synthetic Growth + Natural Decline." Estrada created his submission in the fall course “Maps and Mapping” taught by Charles Waldheim and Matthew Wilson.
Noam Dvir (MAUD) has had a critical review published in the recent issue of the prestigious magazine Art in America, in which he examines the explosive trend of tech firm expansion and corporate brand expression through architecture.
Neil Brenner (professor of urban theory and director of the Urban Theory Lab) has just published a new edited volume, Implosions/Explosions: Towards a Study of Planetary Urbanization (Berlin: Jovis, 2014). Through classic and contemporary essays, including one by Nikos Katsikis (DDes candidate ‘14), the book explores the various theoretical, epistemological and political implications of Henri Lefebvre’s claim that "society has been completely urbanized."
A chapter coauthored by Diane Davis (professor of urbanism and development) and Onesimo Flores Dewey (lecturer and senior researcher) was named an Outstanding Author Contribution in the 2014 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence. “How to Defeat an Urban Megaproject. Lessons from Mexico City Airport Controversy,” which appeared in Research in Urban Sociology last year, was called "one of the most impressive pieces of work the team has seen throughout 2013" by the Emerald Group Publishing Editors.
Harvard's team of graduate students competing in the Department of Energy's Better Buildings Case Competition was recognized as presenting the "most innovative" proposal for their recommendations to improve energy efficiency in quick service restaurants. David Henning (MUP), Brian Vargo (MDesS), and Arta Yazdanseta (MDesS) from the Graduate School of Design worked on the project.
An interdisciplinary team of students led by Felipe Correa (associate professor of urban design) and Carlos Garciavelez Alfaro (lecturer in urban design and MAUD '12) is working on new housing prototypes for Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Ryley Poblete ( MArch II), Maynard Leon ( MArch I / MUP), Ana Victoria Ciari, Miguel Lopez Melendez and Long Zuo (all MAUD) are exploring how mixed income blocks can incorporate income diversity into the affordable housing market.